New FOX Trailers: The Following, The Mindy Project and More

Share.

Check out the trailers for all of FOX's 2012-2013 series.

By Eric Goldman

With less hours to program -- since they don’t run shows past 10pm -- and two shows (The X Factor and American Idol) that take up three hours a week when they air, FOX didn’t have a lot of new series to show off today at their Upfront presentation.

However, one of those five series is certainly one of the next TV season’s most anticipated – The Following. Created by Kevin Williamson (Scream, The Vampire Diaries), the show features Kevin Bacon, an actor long sought after by TV producers. FOX's Kevin Reilly noted that the network had been searching for "the next 24" since that long-running hit ended, and they felt they found it with The Following. Clearly, the key to these shows is to get a Flatliner to star!

FOX’s Peter Rice touted how popular their series are on social networks, remarking that the network has “A really high bar for success, both in ratings and quality, but also cultural significance,” indicating the shows they cancelled – including Terra Nova, Alcatraz, Breaking In and Allen Gregory, among others – failed to resonate in those ways.

The trailers for their new series were debuted, which you can see below – along with my quick, initial thoughts.

The Following: I'm in. The Following is exactly what you'd expect (in a good way) based on the concept, with Bacon once again trying to find the escaped serial killer he captured years before - a killer who now has acolytes. It looks cool and moody and dark, with Bacon bringing his dependably strong presence to the show.

The series debuts midseason, airing its fifteen episodes straight through.

The Mindy Project: With FOX finding success with New Girl, this comedy created by and starring Mindy Kaling (the Office) has clearly been conceived a companion piece - in fact, FOX had Kaling and Zooey Deschanel onstage together for some banter. If you like Kaling (and I do), she looks fun and appealing in this and I like the vibe... I just wish there were more straight up laughs. But there are some standout moments, including the Eat, Prey, Love line, that give me optimism for this show.

The Goodwin Games: This was the one that didn't hit home for me, at least not as much as I'd like. I'm a big fan of How I Met Your Mother (certainly the early seasons), and this show -- debuting midseason -- comes from the same creators. It has a Royal Tenenbaums vibe, with the eccentric siblings' strained relationship with their dad, flashbacks included. But where are the laughs? (okay, I did love the line "I’m your estate lawyer now, bitch.")

Ben and Kate: I'll forgive this trailer for the use of the cliche term "harebrained schemes", since the rest of it was really endearing and gently funny. The family dynamic looks appealing and it should hopefully be a nice pairing with Raising Hope.

The Mob Doctor: I was surprised by the slightly comical (albeit twisted) humor at the top of this trailer, involving a screwdriver in a place it shouldn’t be. But things quickly got dark. This show looks like it could go either way – it’s an idea that could be cool, could be silly… but also seems better suited for a movie than a TV series, since it’s hard to think how it can be sustained. (if this show goes for years, she’ll still be paying her debt off to the mob?) But for now, I’m curious.